


dining with the family - and many other great misadventures

by icedpocarie, LapisLazuli13



Series: Self-indulgent nico and reyna fics [3]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Hades is a Good Parent, Nico and reyna’s great misadventures, Nico is a Dork, Self-Indulgent, cerberus is a cute pet, don’t get turned to a plant again nico, mommy reyna, platonic reynico, reyna questions her Life Choices
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-05-20 01:11:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14884790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icedpocarie/pseuds/icedpocarie, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LapisLazuli13/pseuds/LapisLazuli13
Summary: Nico invites Reyna to a family dinner. Hades unwillingly embarrasses him and Persephone is as nice as ever. Reyna, on the other hand, is a little happy to see that despite it all, Nico has a pretty great family.aka: the slight Underworld adventure during the first time Reyna visited the Underworld. man-eating gardens, playful pets, and embarrassing parents were the last thing that she had expected, but here she was





	1. the beginning of the best Underworld tour

 

 

Reyna, by nature, is not a person who would willingly make a mistake. In fact, Reyna barely makes any mistake. A perfectionist and a disciplined person, Reyna very much prefer to use her head than her heart when she makes her decisions.

But for some reason or another, that mentality seems to be thrown out of the window when Nico di Angelo is concerned - because she really did seem to not think over it when she agreed on this.

And that is why she finds herself in the cold - but aesthetically elegant, if magnificent - dining chambers with beings that she would never have dreamed to eat with.

She still remembers the time when Nico asked her,

_There was a nervous grin on Nico’s face, his thumb unconsciously playing with the skull ring on his finger. Reyna wants to ask him what was wrong - wants to instinctively offers to make things right - when Nico finally meets her eyes and asks,_

_“Do you want to get dinner with my family?”_

In hindsight. Reyna truly should have thought things over instead of agreeing without any doubt. But Nico looked at her with that endearing troubled expression on his face and if there was a rumor about her that was true, it was that she had the most of affections for the youngest member of the Big Three demigods.

And in the beginning, it wasn’t such a bad idea. Nico was well-versed enough in the Underworld that he had no problem shadow-traveling the two of them in a heartbeat.

It just managed to barely give her a heart attack when Nico suddenly stopped in front of a gigantic animal and as Reyna looked up, the only thing that left her mouth was, “ _What is that?”_

The three heads on the dog-looking creature gave it away, but it still didn’t let her shiver fade when Nico grins and whistles to the dog - who immediately ran to him and gave licks, all three of the heads _at the same time_ \- and states, “It’s Cerberus.”

That much, Reyna could have guessed herself, but she didn’t know exactly why they met with the dog without so much as a warning.

“I thought that you like animals, so I guessed that you would have liked to meet him,” Nico finally says, when Reyna stays still on the spot, still confused.

As that dawned to her - that Nico was doing this for her - Reyna warms slightly and it only made her even more endeared when Nico - in a rare gesture - tilted his head to the side, looking exactly like the little angel he was named after, asked, “Was I wrong?”

“N-no, you’re right!” Reyna immediately disproves him, and then looks up at Cerberus - who was looking at her in curiosity - as she beamed, “Hello, Cerberus.”

Nico smiled at that and then, the two of them went to play with the overgrown dog. Contrary to Reyna’s initial expectations, Cerberus had been nothing but friendly - giving her more than a few excited licks, though she also feels like she has jus taken a shower with the dog’s actions.

“Cerberus is my father’s favorite pet,” Nico says, offhandedly, while he pats one of the heads of the dog.

Reyna glanced at him - petting _another_ head - when she points out, “Isn’t he your father’s only pet?”

“Not really,” Nico says, but only after pulling a ball out of a shadow - an action that appeared so subtle, but thoroughly impressed Reyna - and then he shakes his head as he adds, “He has other ones. Hellhounds and sabers and well, there are various animals to be found in here.”

There was a pause, and he adds, “Not counting the dead animals, too.”

But that was the only conversation that the two of them had, because Cerberus decided that it was playtime and had no remorse in running after them, all three heads bringing tongues out as he tried to catch them.

Reyna thinks that this is a far more effective training than even those in her camp, but she has no time to ponder about that because she had to concentrate or a paw _will_ playfully crash down on her.

Thankfully, after the meeting with the famed pet of the Underworld, there had been no detours as Nico and Reyna walked in the castle.

From time to time, she watches as the spirits and skeletal soldiers bow towards Nico, but they barely paid attention to her. More than anything, what caught her eye is the grandness of the place, looking like it was more befit of a king in the above ground than for the Lord of the Dead.

But the again, even though Nico was the son of Hades, the god himself was also Pluto - and that might be explanation enough why the place was covered in nothing but pure gold and silver, decorated and accented with various gems that would fetch millions if sold.

As they walked, Nico seemed to not have noticed how gaudy the place looked like because he simply continued on the possible activities that the two could do here, saying something along the lines of watching a match between two different undead racers.

Reyna must have looked too lost in thought, because Nico suddenly stops and inquires, “Are you okay, Reyna?”

The hints of concern in his voice is obvious and he looks like he was worried that she wasn’t coping well in the Underworld. Reyna doesn’t know if it was Nico’s own divine protection, but her stay in the world haven’t seem suffocating, at least, not yet.

But there was something that caught Reyna’s attention - a question that flits in her mind, unwillingly and unconsciously.

Before Reyna can stop herself, she gives Nico a questioning look as she asks the younger boy in front of her, “Nico, why did you bring me here?”

At that, Nico looks just a little startled and more than a little embarrassed. Reyna has half the mind to take back her words - not wanting to grant him unnecessary stress - when Nico sighed, loud and audible.

Reyna tries not to notice, but the moment he did, the spirits that were about to pass their way immediately turned to another direction - as if fearing the slightest hint of irritation in Nico’s demeanor.

“Well,” and then Nico’s face lightens up, and he looks just a little more childish than usual when he says, in a small voice, “Persephone asked me to bring a friend to dinner - and I thought that you would be the best choice.”

“Not Will?” Reyna asks despite herself, but she has to say that she was surprised. Granted, she has been the greatest of Nico’s secret keepers - and it was especially apparent in times when Nico would tell her things that he would not have shared even with Hazel.

“Will’s a possible choice, too,” Nico shrugs - and he appeared very much like a child that wanted attention from his older sister at this moment - when he adds, “But you were my first choice. I mean, you did help me out a lot back then.”

Nico doesn’t need to emphasize on his words - or to even clarify them. Reyna knew that it was about the quest that they shared together months ago, where the two of them found friends in each other at the most unlikely of places - a guardian, too, in the form of Coach Hedge.

“I see.” Reyna looks at him to smile and when he smiles back, Reyna thinks that this is the one boy that she would like to protect with her life. But before she could get emotional, she pushes the thought out of her head and then, she asks, wanting to know their next destination, “So, are we supposed to suddenly eat with your family?”

Reyna still thinks that the idea is surreal. She knows that most - if not all the others - gods and goddesses will not just agree or even offer to let their child bring another demigod in their home. Let alone, one of the most powerful god, Hades.

But here she was and Nico doesn’t seem nervous about the prospect, but a part of her is. She had heard of the rumors about Hades - knows that a single appearance would terrify even the other godly beings, enemies and allies like.

However, a part of her remembers that this is the same Hades that was more than willing to give Nico a zombie chauffeur - so as far as most gods go, he must had shared a little bit of a closer bond with him.

It seemed weird, in a hindsight, but -

“Reyna, were you listening?” Nico’s words bring him back out of her thoughts and she thinks that she would rather go back to her reflections instead because there was a more than a shred of playfulness in Nico’s eyes.

It seemed like even the location understood, ecause the embers of the torches near them seemed to flicker excitedly, as if in response to what he younger boy in front of her was feeling.

And then before Reyna can tell him to think it over, Nico gives him the look that she can never disagree too - it was unfair for him to exploit it - as Nico suggests, “Do you want to drop by somewhere before we hit the dining room?”

Reyna thinks that they shouldn’t make the gods wait for them, but she doesn’t have the time to do so because Nico pulled her without a warning, making alarm bells resound in her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve just made one of the darker works that’s why I decided to write this to lighten my writings up. Platonic reynico remains god-tier and Hades IS the best parent within the big three. Probably.
> 
> I liked writing this, lol. It’s kind of light but the greatness that is the reynico family chemistry still is there and I just. I hope we see the two of them in the next books orz.
> 
> Thank you for reading this!


	2. let's not turn into a plant again, nico

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reyna is just one step away from being turned into a plant.

Plants have never been Reyna’s specialty – she fared better in wars and councils – but even she can see that the garden that she was in was a prized one. When Nico pulled her away without any warning, a part of her was afraid that he’ll make her a part of some prank.

Not that she thinks that Nico even _pulls_ pranks – but the glimmer of playfulness and mirth in her eyes serves a fair warning.

That’s why, when she realized that she entered in an exceedingly grand greenhouse – she doesn’t know why the underworld would ever need one – that houses more flowers and plants than she can recognize.

“Uh, Nico?” Reyna’s voice was a little soft, a little unsure, when she asked him, “What are we supposed to do here?”

And then, Nico looked at him with narrowed eyes – questioning, without any hints of amusement but with curiosity – as he said, voiced equally unsure, “We’re… hanging out?”

Nico sounded a bit insecure, his normally stoic – and intimidating – demeanor giving way to a more childlike one as he continued, “That’s what friends do, right?”

And Reyna just wants to coo at him – smile at him like a proud mother or older sister, though the former would be preferred. Because Nico is looking at her unsurely, but Reyna thinks – _knows_ – that he’s only acting like that because Nico only has a handful of friends.

Maybe less.

And even though that should be a particularly sad thought, Reyna kind of hates herself for still being happy that Nico considered her one enough that he’ll do something like _hanging out_.

Of course, there _is_ the eventual interruption of the oncoming dinner date with the parents from the Underworld, but well… What happens, happens.

“Right,” Reyna smiles – almost beams – when she notices that Nico is still staring at her. She gazed at the surroundings – filled with numerous exotic plants, looking oddly natural in contrast of the metallic hues of the Underworld – and she inquired, “But what exactly are we going to do here?”

She let some of her humor out as she suggested, “Why, do you want to prepare a bouquet or basket of fruits before we meet your father?”

Reyna has made several mistakes in succession and as soon as Nico brightens up – his face actually _lighting up_ , as weird as it sounds – Reyna thinks that she should backtrack her statement.

“That was –“

“You’re so smart, Reyna,” Nico cuts her off, voice appeasing and pleased, and the words fell off her tongue before she can continue. She wonders if Nico is doing it on purpose – looking at her with his head tilted in the right angle and his mouth puckered in the smallest of pouts – because it is _way_ too powerful over her.

She was supposed to be more disciplined than this. Until Nico di Angelo, the terror of literally every other demigod and stuffs of nightmares according to the camp trainees, entered her life and made her waver a little bit with every decision.

… Actually, who was she kidding? It was by a lot.

And Reyna knows that her willpower wouldn’t  be enough to reject Nico, so she foregone that thought in favor of suggesting better options. She looked at Nico – whose eyes were scanning the garden – as she asked, “What do you want to do?”

“You know,” Nico starts, eyes still on the plants, “Persephone had always been possessive of her garden, but it’s not like she knows everything going in here, right?”

It was like watching gears turn inside Nico’s minds, his talks about Persephone – and wait, _this_ was Persephone’s garden?

Reyna’s eyes widened slightly, remembering what kind of goddess she was – what her myths say. She feels incredibly stupid – she’d been feeling that _a lot_ lately – when she realizes it just _now_.

Of course, _this_ is her garden. After all, between Nico and Hades – maybe even Hazel – no one seemed to be the plant-lover type.

She looks at the ground that she walks on, hopes that she haven’t accidentally killed a flower or two by mistake because she had heard rumors about Persephone turning demigods into plants in her free time.

And most of those rumors came from the boy beside her, Nico himself, who looks far too brave for whatever plan that he’s thinking up right now.

“Nico,” Reyna tries to keep her voice calm – remembers that if she can lead dozens of soldiers, a little rejection shouldn’t be _that_ hard – and finally, finally says, “I think that this is a bad idea.”

Nico blinks – adorably, and Reyna hates how weak and motherly she feels with that one action – before he says back, “Why?”

“Your stepmother will turn you into another flower,” Reyna reminds, not bothering to add that _she_ will be turned into one too.

“Ah, that,” Nico frowns at a distant memory before he shook his head and says, “She won’t be able to turn us if she doesn’t know anything.”

He says it with such confidence that it almost makes Reyna give in. If only she didn’t know that this _is_ Persephone’s area and her expertise – meaning, she _would_ definitely know if either of them took even a single leaf.

“This is her garden, Nico,” Reyna tries to be the voice of reason, “she’d know in a heartbeat.”

And then, Nico almost grins – lips forming a very rare smirk – as he meets her eyes, nodding his head, “Yeah, she _will_ know it.”

Reyna thanks whoever God is with them right now because –

“But she wouldn’t know that it is us, specifically.” Nico continues, crushing her hopes and making Reyna gape at him.

“What?”

“Look,” Nico’s expression is appeasing, using full well of his features, as he explains, “I’ve been turned into plants almost as much as I’ve shadow travelled in the past years.”

Reyna nods her head – remembering Nico saying the same thing in a conversation before.

“But that was because she only caught me in action.” Nico states and Reyna is still confused until he finally says, “If it’s not me _specifically_ , she wouldn’t know.”

And just as Nico’s words finally make sense in Reyna’s head, Nico turns to the direction of an open door. As soon as a wandering skeleton passes by, Nico raises his voice.

“Come here,” he says, voice deep, dark and commanding. Reyna watches – hairs on her skin rising just a bit as the temperature drops slightly – as the skeleton turns around and without question, heads towards the two of them.

The reanimated bones don’t talk but kneels down to Nico and Reyna feels impressed with that show of power. Even when she classifies him as her _self-imposed_ little brother, there is no doubt in her mind that Nico is a demigod of almost divine caliber.

“He’s going to fetch us our gifts,” Nico says as soon as he turned away from the skeleton and towards Reyna. There is an impish look to him as he adds, “Persephone wouldn’t know a thing.”

A part of Reyna thinks that the goddess keeps a divine CCTV here or something of the sort, but then again, at the end of the day, she trusts Nico.

At the very least, she hopes that he is right.

But she doesn’t have the time to question that because Nico started to walk around – the skeleton following him obediently and silently – and starts to suggest, “Do you think that she’d want a pomegranate?”

“She’ll _kill_ you,” Reyna answers and Nico laughs at that. He looks back at her and smiles, “If you want to add anything to our basket, just tell this guy here.”

“Do we even have a basket –“

Reyna stops in her statement because she sees the basket that Nico got from the shadows – _again_ – and then, when there is a particularly ripe grape, she couldn’t help but suggest, “How about this one?”

Nico’s lips curved upwards and then he says, “This feels like a picnic.”

“Yeah,” Reyna says, despite the thought of their impending doom as flowers, and smiles too. Even though most picnics wouldn’t have the consequence of an angry godly stepmother or the backdrop of the burning flames and golden figures, she really couldn’t think of this as a bad experience.

After all, it had been a pretty long time since she’s been with Nico and even now, the thought that Nico invited _her_ of all people still burns warmly in her heart.

… She just hopes that they’re going to head to the dining room immediately after this because she thinks that if they push even more, she might shorten her lifespan with the shocks and surprises.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!
> 
> Writing from Reyna's semi-POV is always a nice thing because I relate to her so much lol. That and her 1/2 doing the right thing and 1/2 giving in to Nico is always fun to write.
> 
> Sorry I haven't updated in awhile, I've been playing rhythm games and my fingers are always sore nowadays orz orz. Hopefully, the next update WOULD come faster. 
> 
> Once again, thank you for reading!


	3. Rivers in the Underworld aren’t for swimming purpose.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I finished this chapter like three months ago, I think I should post it.

##  **_Chapter 3: Rivers in the Underworld aren’t for swimming_ _pur_ _pose._**

_(Writer: LapisLazuli13)_

…

Reyna’s hope to head to the dining room right at the moment they finish their (sort of) picnic is shot to Tartarus pretty quickly.

“Nico, please tell me we’re going to the dining room,” Reyna tells the son of Hades with a soft commanding tone, still hoping that she doesn’t shorten her lifespan too much by the previous action in Persephone’s garden.

“We are,” Nico quickly replies her. “All roads lead to Rome.”

That answer doesn’t satisfy the _New Rome_ ’s praetor at all.

“Where are we going?” She sighs, contemplating the possibility to just give in to whatever Nico’s up to. She does it most of the time after all, one more time couldn’t hurt.

“We’re going to meet one of the most iconic Greek mythology’s figures in the Underworld,” Nico grins at her, and Reyna honestly can’t decide if she likes that trouble-making smile or not. “The ferryman on the River Styx, Charon. I’d like to invite you for a ride on his boat.”

“… But aren’t we already in the Underworld right now?” Reyna blinks and questions, seeming mildly confused. “We met Cerberus before, and I’m pretty sure we can’t meet the dog if we haven’t crossed Styx.”

“Because I shadow-traveled us right there,” Nico shrugs, nudging her lightly on her forearm with his elbow. “But a visit to the Underworld has to include a ride on Charon’s boat. Let loose a little bit, Reyna. It’ll be fun, I promise.”

Reyna clicks her tongue, thinking quietly. She’s the praetor of New Rome, she’s a discipline, strict person that can lead a whole army of soldiers to a battlefield and fight bravely with all she has. She makes commands for other people to follow, and they respect her and her words. Nobody has told her to _let loose_. Like, _ever_.

Still… Nico di Angelo is always an exception in most of her lists, if not all. Reyna finds her mouth opens before she could actually think what should she say. “Fine. Just this once.”

Nico grins widely at that, and Reyna allows herself to have an internal scream. _Geez, famous last words._

…

Reyna has seen pictures and statues describing Charon before, in some books she read and at some places she visited. Still, none of them helps her to mentally prepare for actually seeing the infamous ferryman. All the imagination about an old man with austere, laboured look, grey hair, might be bald a little bit, ragged clothes, permanent bitter scowl on his face are stuffed into a cannon and shot away so far that Reyna can’t even see them again anymore.

Standing in front of them is a fairly good-looking middle-aged man – screw all the description that Charon’s old and has a hunched back, the man is about 6 feet tall with a straight back, his hair has a dark shade of ash brown, a board forehead and a strong chin with thin, patchy beard.

“Hi, Charon.” Nico smiles and greets the ferryman. Charon grunts something in response that Reyna thinks it sounds like Ancient Greek. She’s pretty sure it’s not some nice words at all.

As if the situation isn’t strange enough, echoing inside Reyna’s head at that moment are some couples lines of a poem by the Roman poet Virgil that describing Charon in Aeneid, book 6:

_“There Charon stands, who rules the dreary coast –_

_A sordid god: down from his hairy chin_

_A length of beard descends, uncombed, unclean;_

_His eyes, like hollow furnaces on fire;_

_A girdle, foul with grease, binds his obscene attire.”_

The female praetor of New Rome, in one ridiculous moment of her thoughts, actually considering the possibility of asking Nico to summon Virgil and tell him he’s terribly wrong about Charon’s appearance.

… Maybe she indulges Nico more than she planned and spends too much time with Jason – bonus Percy tags along – recently so that their ridicule starts to creep closer to her mind. Reyna shakes her head and tells herself to focus on the present. A lecture for both Jason and Percy to grow up and be responsible could wait until the end of this trip to the Underworld. And she needs to survive a boat ride with Charon before that, so yeah, let’s just focus on the present.

And silently prays that she doesn’t shorten herlife span anymore today.

“I see the Lord’s son brings a companion with him today,” Charon finally says as a greeting, but his voice is obviously irritated, lacing with boredom and the slightest hint of respect that’s hard to detect if Reyna wasn’t familiar with reading people’s emotions through their voices. “You’re not dead, right, young lady?”

“She isn’t,” Nico replies him, he’s using a rarer tone of voice that Reyna only heard about five or six times before from him: a confident, intimidating and commanding tone that she personally uses on a daily basis so she’s all too familiar with it, but it still has a different feeling for Reyna to hear that from the son of Hades. “I invite my best friend Reyna to a trip to the Underworld, and we would like to have a ride on your boat, Charon.”

The word _“best friend”_ echoes inside Reyna’s mind, and it makes warmth bubble in her stomach. She smiles brightly at that, all the dangers in their trip up to now are _so worth it_.

“Fine,” the corner of Charon’s mouth curves up into a twisted smirk while he looks straight into Reyna’s eyes. “Do you have any coin with you, young lady?”

Reyna keeps an emotionless façade as her expression, but she’s shivering a little bit inside. At least Virgil got one thing right about Charon’s appearance: _“His eyes, like hollow furnaces on fire”_ – those eyes are burning a hole through Reyna right now and she’s mildly uncomfortable with all the attention.

“No, she doesn’t need to,” Nico speaks on her behalf again, his voice is laced with a little bit of irritation. “She comes with me, Charon. Besides, letting her pay you a coin as the fee for your ride feels like she’s following the way of the dead. I don’t allow that to happen.”

“So, the Lord’s son is telling me this time I need to carry not only one but two people on my boat without getting paid?” Charon slowly says in a bitter, mildly angry voice. “You violate my rules too many times, _your Highness_.”

The words “your highness” usually uses for showing respect, but the ferryman’s voice makes it clear that there’s almost none respect at all.

Reyna casts a quick glance at the son of Hades. For his credit, Nico doesn’t look like he’s bothered being called like that. “And I’ll prefer to keep it that way. And c’mon, it’s not like your boat can’t carry more than one person at the same time. I told you to upgrade that five months ago and I even spoke to my father to give you some donation.”

The New Rome’s praetor’s eyebrows shot up at that. So that’s why the boat she’s looking at is less like a canoe/ faering or a drift boat as some drawings suggest, but more like… she doesn’t know, a Cornish pilot gig? A sharpie? A gundalow? She truly doesn’t know, she’s not a boat expert after all.

“And I’m thankful for this, but that’s not the reason for me to give you a free ride. Again. With a companion.”

“Actually, I’m thinking about two,” Nico shrugs nonchalantly when Charon’s eyes widened, and Reyna finds herself is suppressing a laugh. “You see, we’re already at this coast of the river. If we go on your boat to the other coast, we’re back closer to the opening gate, so we’ll need to take another ride to be back to this place.”

Reyna actually doesn’t want to take a ride on that boat (she settles with _boat_ because meh, that’s easier to call), left alone _two_. It’s not like the boat looks unsafe, but she’s worried about the water. Acheron or Styx or whatever, rivers in the Underworld aren’t for swimming purposes at all.

“… You’re serious.” Charon spurts out after ten seconds of a small staring competition, and of course, Nico wins. He uses his deadly glare to send other people the unspoken message “stay away from me” on a daily basis after all.

“I’m _dead_ serious,” Nico nods. “Now do you let us on your boat or not?”

Reyna suppresses a sigh. Today she seems to have to suppress a lot of reactions and emotions. It’s lucky that she already got used to that – dealing with New Rome’s politics requires that kind of skill after all.

Charon scrutinizes both of them for one more minute before sighing heavily, grunting. “Fine.”

“Great, thanks,” Nico smiles at that, taking Reyna’s hand and leading her to go with him. “Let’s get ready for a ride, Reyna! It’s not something that a mortal can experience more than once in their life!”

 _‘If I say that I want to experience that only once in my life and I prefer to save the chance until I truly have to, will he be upset?’_ Reyna only has enough time to think about this before finding her feet are already on the boat’s floor. _‘Okay, I guess that I couldn’t say anything.’_

“If you feel scared, just hold my hand,” Nico looks at her and damn, this cheeky little shit is giving her _that angelic smile_ **_again_**. “I promise I won’t let anything happen to you. Relax and have fun, Reyna!”

 _‘I’m actively trying to, believe me,’_ Reyna shakes her head slightly, smiling back at the son of Hades. “As you wish.”

And their boat trip begins.

…


End file.
